Matt Kelly The Institute of Internal Auditors has unveiled a revamped version of its famed Three Lines of Defense model for risk assurance. Perhaps the most notable change: no longer calling it the Three Lines of Defense. Instead, the IIA guide is now officially known as “The Three Lines Model” — a nod to criticism over the years that the word “defense” […]
Essay
Bruno Latour: ‘This is a global catastrophe that has come from within’
Jonathan Watts The influential French thinker explains the politics of the Gaia principle, the problems of post-truth and how coronavirus gives us a model for spreading ideas. Some say this is the revenge of nature. That is silly. Anyone who has studied the history of medicine knows how a virus can make a society feel completely different. We are on […]
The light of risk management has dimmed
Jack Kruf* The world of risk management is a special world. There are many methods and techniques, software programs, standards, surveys and especially experts. It is a true cloud that hangs above us, of concepts, of supposed uncertainties, unknowns, forces we do not seem to know, of black swans, sometimes also white swans, of dangers that seem to circle like […]
Developing an effective Governance Self-Assessment Instrument
Dr. Simon Grima [1] and Dr. Rebecca Dalli Gonzi [2] Stakeholders’ (of both private and public organisations) trust in the effectiveness and ability of the Board of Directors (‘BOD’) depends on factors such as transparency and clear accountability. Therefore, measuring the effectiveness of these factors is essential. However, how can we do this and against what benchmark/s? Should we consider […]
The Pandemic Isn’t a Black Swan but a Portent of a More Fragile Global System
Bernard Avishai Nassim Nicholas Taleb is “irritated,” he told Bloomberg Television on March 31st, whenever the coronavirus pandemic is referred to as a “black swan,” the term he coined for an unpredictable, rare, catastrophic event, in his best-selling 2007 book of that title. “The Black Swan” was meant to explain why, in a networked world, we need to change business practices and […]
How COVID-19 might help us win the fight against climate change
Victoria Crawford The COVID-19 pandemic has elicited a global response unlike anything we’ve seen before. From government and business taking on new roles to respond to the crisis to the complete re-organisation of how we work, travel and socialize, we have witnessed transformational changes that didn’t appear possible just weeks ago. The human costs of the pandemic are horrifying, but […]
Coronavirus outbreak highlights market complacency risk
Robert Armstrong Why was reaction to red flags slow — and can business become more vigilant? Monday morning, February 24, was the moment when a thoroughly somnolent market, after a decade of steadily rising prices and accommodative central bank policy, awoke to the fact that coronavirus would have serious implications for the world economy — and that, at the same time, […]
“All the information was always out there” – “Everywhere you look there are red flags”
Paul Barnett, CEO Strategic Management Forum My two recent posts expressed surprise, that organisations that should know better have called the Coronavirus outbreak a Black Swan Event. The first on March 29th and the second on March 30th. Read more “All the information was always out there, and until February 21, risk managers all over the world were just ignoring it.” […]
China Created a Fail-Safe System to Track Contagions. It Failed.
Steven Lee Myers After SARS, Chinese health officials built an infectious disease reporting system to evade political meddling. But when the coronavirus emerged, so did fears of upsetting Beijing. The alarm system was ready. Scarred by the SARS epidemic that erupted in 2002, China had created an infectious disease reporting system that officials said was world-class: fast, thorough and, just […]
El mundo en hibernación busca salidas
Marc Bassets La triple conmoción por el coronavirus —sanitaria, económica y política— une a la humanidad bajo la misma amenaza pero la divide en las respuestas. El planeta, para un extraterrestre que aterrizase estos días, ofrecería una imagen extraña, entre apacible e inquietante. Más de un tercio de la humanidad está en casa, privada de la libertad de moverse, tan […]
«La crise économique liée au Covid-19: une épreuve de vérité pour les principes qui guident les dirigeants des grandes entreprises»
Alors que l’urgence sanitaire mondiale Covid-19 se poursuit, les retombées économiques se multiplient. La croissance économique mondiale s’est inversée, les entreprises ont commencé à annuler les services qu’elles assurent à leurs clients et des millions de personnes sont au chômage technique ou licenciées. Lire l’article
Three weeks of lockdown in Italy has given us vital perspective – and small comforts
Tobias Jones With scarce resources instilling a spirit of togetherness, Italians have quickly learned to cherish what we once took for granted. We’re about to enter our fourth week of lockdown in Italy, our sixth of home-schooling, and we’ve begun to glimpse minor positives. It’s as if we’re all at that stage of musical chairs when the music has stopped. […]
Board Leadership and Performance in a Crisis
Jack “Rusty” O’Kelley III, Grace Cheng, Beatrice Ballini, Constantine Alexandrakis, Justus O’Brien, Laura Sanderson, Melissa Martin, PJ Neal, Todd Safferstone For board directors and chief executive officers. Every industry across the globe has faced a crisis at some point in time. While most large companies survive, many struggle for years following a period of severe adversity. Others prevail and become […]
Yuval Noah Harari: the world after coronavirus
Yuval Noah Harari This storm will pass. But the choices we make now could change our lives for years to come. Humankind is now facing a global crisis. Perhaps the biggest crisis of our generation. The decisions people and governments take… Read more
Most people see COVID-19 as an economic crisis first, health risk second, survey finds
Laura Oliver The public sees coronavirus as a greater threat to the economy than to their health, new research suggests. Economic rescue measures announced by governments do not appear to be calming concern. The Ipsos poll of 10,000 adults in 12 countries, conducted 12-14 March, suggests rising anxiety about personal financial exposure, including employment. The perception of threat to health increases […]
Before Virus Outbreak, a Cascade of Warnings Went Unheeded
David E. Sanger, Eric Lipton, Eileen Sullivan and Michael Crowley Government exercises, including one last year, made clear that the U.S. was not ready for a pandemic like the coronavirus. But little was done. The outbreak of the respiratory virus began in China and was quickly spread around the world by air travelers, who ran high fevers. In the United […]
Resilience in an infected society
Ton Wilthagen and Paulien Bongers Resilience is the ability to anticipate, recover, and return to normal. But, we are also capable of eventually becoming stronger and better as a society, even as a result of an exceptional crisis caused by the corona outbreak. In his already historic television speech on March 16, the Dutch Prime Minister Rutte outlined the far-reaching […]
Leadership in a crisis: Responding to the coronavirus outbreak and future challenges
Gemma D’Auria and Aaron De Smet The coronavirus pandemic has placed extraordinary demands on leaders in business and beyond. The humanitarian toll taken by COVID-19 creates fear among employees and other stakeholders. The massive scale of the outbreak and its sheer unpredictability make it challenging for executives to respond. Indeed, the outbreak has the hallmarks of a “landscape scale” crisis: […]
Visualizing the History of Pandemics
Nicholas LePan As humans have spread across the world, so have infectious diseases. Even in this modern era, outbreaks are nearly constant, though not every outbreak reaches pandemic level as the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has. Today’s visualization outlines some of history’s most deadly pandemics, from the Antonine Plague to the current COVID-19 event. Read more
Insights on handling coronavirus from an earlier report on business and outbreaks
Protecting Lives and Livelihoods across the Global Economy. This 2019 report by the World Economic Forum and the Harvard Global Health Institute warned of an outbreak like COVID-19 and told businesses to step up to the increasing risk of pandemics. Read more
How To Use A Risk Matrix
Julian Talbot There are better tools for risk assessment than risk matrices But, contrary to some opinion, they are not without some utility. So if your organization still insists on using them, here are at least two basic issues that are easy to fix when using a risk matrix. The first is failing to identify the risk. You can’t calculate a […]
Emissions: four times the work or one-third of the time to comply with the Paris Agreement
New synthesis shows what a wasted decade means for the climate pact made in Paris. New research shows that nations must now do much more and much faster to limit global warming to well below 2 °C, let alone 1.5 °C, as agreed in Paris. A decade of insufficient political action on climate change means that nations must now do […]
Look to cities, not nation-states, to solve our biggest challenges
Robert Muggah The world in 2020 is looking more turbulent and uncertain than ever. Powerful economic, demographic and technological forces are rewiring international politics. According to the World Economic Forum’s new Global Risks Report, structural shifts are encouraging nation-states to adopt more transactional and unilateral postures. Read more
Climate Change Preparedness
Stefan Lundbergh* Across the globe there are more uncontrollable fires, an increasing number of severe hurricanes, longer periods of droughts and warmer winters. The consequences of climate change are becoming more tangible. As long-term investors, we need to consider the extent to which our investments are prepared for a changing climate. Generally certain – Specifically uncertain. Read more *Director Cardano Insights